Spain Oil Tanker

The Bahamas-registered "Prestige" is seen some 70 nautical miles (132 kilometers) off Spain's coast in the Atlantic ocean, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2002. Spain battled to contain an oil spill from the striken oil tanker as slicks washed up on the beaches of the country's northwestern coast.

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A view of the coastline in Camelle, northwestern Spain, Saturday, Nov. 16, after oil from the Bahamas-flagged tanker washed ashore.

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The stricken Bahamas-flagged "Prestige," carrying some 77,000 metric tons (85,000 US tons) of fuel oil, leaves a trail of oil behind it. The "Prestige" sprung a leak Wednesday, Nov. 13, after it cracked its hull in a storm some 50 kilometers, 31 miles, offshore. The tanker, in danger of splitting in two, was being towed out to sea.

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On Tuesday, Nov. 19 the Prestige oil tanker finally broke in two. The stricken tanker was towed some 244 kilometers, 152 miles, off the coast before it sank.

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The last of the Prestige, and its 77,000 tons (20 million gallons) of fuel oil, sinks into the Atlantic Ocean. Officials had hoped the oil would solidify with the Prestige in the frigid cold and high pressure 2.2 miles below, avoiding an environmental catastrophe.

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A bird covered with oil squawks on the seafront in Malpica, northwestern Spain, Saturday, Nov. 16.

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Two people walk across the oil-covered Barranan beach in Arteixo, northwestern Spain, Sunday, Nov. 17, after oil washed ashore from the tanker "Prestige."

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An unidentified woman looks at an oil-stained beach near Camelle, Sunday, Nov 17.

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A bird floats in oil-contaminated water in Camelle, northwestern Spain, Sunday, Nov. 17.

A dead, oil-covered bird lies on the Rostro beach in Finisterre, northwestern Spain, Sunday, Dec. 1. An enormous oil slick advanced toward one of Europe's busiest fishing regions Saturday as mariners and fishermen raced to intercept it with floating barriers and oil-skimming boats.

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In Portosin, northwestern Spain, fishermen prepare a floating barrier on Saturday, Nov. 30, in hopes of containing the oil coming their way.

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National park workers fill sandbags while erecting a barrier along the sea shore of the Corrubedo national park, a nature reserve known for its sand dunes. The barrier is an attempt to minimize the damage should oil reach the shore along the park. Oil from the spill has been lurking in the ocean a few miles from Corrubedo.

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An boy takes part in a protest in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Dec. 1 against the Spanish government's handling of the oil spill. The Sticker on boy's face reads 'Oil Slick Never Again!'

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During a visit to an oil-stained beach in Muxia, northwestern Spain, Spain's King Juan Carlos, right, and Galician Regional President Manuel Fraga, second right, speak to clean-up volunteers, Monday, Dec. 2.

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Spanish fishermen scoop up oil from the sea in the Ria de Arousa inlet near Aguino in Galicia, northwestern Spain Tuesday, Dec. 3. Hundreds of beaches have been contaminated by the fuel oil and the government has banned fishing and shellfish harvesting as a result.

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Spanish fishermen look at oil filled containers aboard fishing boats after it was scooped from the sea in the Ria de Arousa inlet, Tuesday Dec. 3.